1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of vibrators, including prosthetic devices and dildos.
2. Related Art
Phalluses have been used as penis substitutes from time immemorial. In cultures where hymenal blood was considered evil or dangerous, a husband would avoid his young bride until she attended a ceremony during which her hymen was pierced by a substitute for the husband, often a phallus made of stone, metal, ivory or even wood. In other cultures the deflowering of a young bride by the phallus of a fertility god was part of ceremonies aimed at assuring the procreative success of a married couple. Similar ceremonies were also participated in by long-married wives who were childless. See Panati's Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody, Charles Panati (Harper & Row, N.Y., 1989).
In addition to serving in sacred fertility and marriage ceremonies, phalluses have been used for the simple purpose of pleasure, by couples and by people who are otherwise alone. In addition, with the onslaught of venereal diseases such as herpes and AIDS, phalluses substitute for the male reproductive organ as part of safe sex practices. Phalluses are also used by couples when the male partner is impotent. And, sex aids and paraphernalia, such as phalluses, have been used by sex counselors as one of the tools for counseling their patients.
Even from earliest times phalluses have been made as simple as an ordinary smooth-edged cylinder, as close replicas of human penises, as reproductions of exaggerated erect penises, or as ornately decorated symbols of the male reproductive organ.
In more recent times, with the development of modern plastics and other moldable materials, phalluses may be mass produced in a wide variety of forms pleasing in shape and design for use as decorative sculptures, or as a device used in sexual activities.
Mass produced phalluses are typically formed in a molding process. First a hollow phallus body is formed. Then often a vibrating device connected to a wire is inserted into the hollow area of the phallus. Finally, the hollow area is filled in by pouring a melt of a resilient material into the hollow area and letting it cool and harden. There is then a trimming step, where excess material from the pouring and hardening stage is cut off from the phallus.
There are problems associated with this manufacturing technique, however. First, the motor within the vibrating device is sometimes flooded and ruined during the pouring stage. In addition, once the poured material has solidified, the vibrating device within the phallus is not always located in the proper, centered, position, because the vibrating device may have moved due to force from the pouring or from any jostling or movement of the entire phallus during pouring and cooling. In addition, the wire running from the vibrating device to the power supply is sometimes burned and damaged during the pouring stage due to the heat (typically 400.degree. F.) of the melt. The wire can also be cut or damaged during the trimming stage.
When any of the above problems occur, the entire phallus itself is typically discarded, since it is not possible to align or make repairs to the vibrating device or wire once the melt has solidified.